


You Made A Promise Once

by GalracatKeith (SpaceDanster)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Keith has nightmares, M/M, shiro is not happy about that, sleepover in the black lion, so theres that, takes place during their return to earth, they talk about naxzela, theyre also cute and in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22045021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceDanster/pseuds/GalracatKeith
Summary: Ever since he had fought Shiro's clone he'd had the same recurring nightmare.  Keith was fighting Shiro over and over, and nine out of ten times he would fail to save him. The memories were still so vivid in his mind, he could taste the sweat on his lips ,the wind in his hair as they fell, the searing pain across his cheek. His throat was raw from screaming, begging for Shiro to remember, to stop."I love you"
Relationships: Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 47





	You Made A Promise Once

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my documents for over a year collecting dust, and I thought it was a shame I never posted it. I think I had originally planned it to be longer, but I don't feel like adding much to it. I'll save that for another thing I'm working on. So, enjoy this drabble!

_“I should have abandoned you, just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken, worthless. I should have seen it too.”_

_The words were nothing he hadn’t told himself before, but hearing it from him. It cut deeper than he ever thought it would._

_Ever since he first met Shiro, he could never quite understand why the man refused to give up on him. To give him a chance, when everyone else laughed and mocked him. But he supposed that was one of the things that made Shiro who he was, the utter faith he had in the people he cared about._

_Which was why none of this made sense to him. Shiro was his best friend, his...his everything. There was just no way he could be saying these things, something was wrong. That much was clear._

_“I’m not leaving here without you.” And it was true, whatever had happened to Shiro, he had to fix it. He was not giving up on him._

_Even if killed him._

**"Shiro!"** Keith called out desperately, scrambling out of the makeshift bed he had made in the Black Lion. He wiped the sweat off his brow, letting out a shuddering breath as the nightmares were still playing vividly behind his eyelids. Ever since he had fought Shiro's clone he'd had the same recurring nightmare. He was fighting Shiro over and over, and nine out of ten times, he failed he save him. The memories were still so vivid in his mind, he could taste the sweat on his lips ,the wind in his hair as they fell, the searing pain across his cheek. His throat was raw from screaming, begging for Shiro to remember, to stop.

_I love you-_

With a choked breath, he could feel his slit eyes return to normal, leaving the dark room to bathe in subtle purple again. He rested his face in the palm of his hands, willing the tears back while he tried to calm his hammering heart.

"Keith?" Shiro spoke softly from beside him, eyes peeking tiredly at him trough pale hair. With a low grunt, he rolled onto his side to look at Keith properly.

"Hey, you okay?" He questioned as Ketih still didn't look at him, his worry only growing as he remained silent. Shiro was about to voice his concern again when Keith's hands fell to his sides, revealing violet eyes filled with fear.

"Keith..." Shiro started, only to blink as Keith flopped down on the floor again wordlessly. Keith curled up next to him, choked sobs slipping past the man’s crumbling wall.

"I'm just so afraid of losing you again, I..." Keith forced out, hiding his face in the crook of Shiro's neck, silently trying to halt the flow of tears.  
With a pained frown, Shiro raised his remaining arm to run his fingers through Keith's tangled locks with a low hum.

"I never want to leave you again." Shiro spoke softly, his hand leaving Keith's hair to rest it carefully on his injured cheek. Keith looked back at him with a torn expression, wanting nothing more than to believe his words.  
"Never again, Keith. I promise." He whispered, leaning down to leave a soft press of his lips on Keith’s forehead. Shiro tried his best to reassure him, despite the fact that his promises might just as well be as empty as they always had been.

Keith remained silent, wrapping his arms around Shiro’s waist to feel the other man close, needing his warmth more now than ever.  
"I love you." Keith’s voice was quiet, the sound slightly muffled against the fabric of Shiro's undersuit, but audible nonetheless.

"I love you too, Stardust." Shiro smiled, his heart skipping a beat as Keith looked back up at him with a wide grin. Traces of tears were still marked on his face, but the smile that now played on his lips, was enough to suppress his anxiety for the time being.

"You're so cute when you smile like that." Shiro huffed out a laugh as he brushed his nose against Keith’s, not remembering the last time he let himself laugh freely like this. 

"H-hey!" Keith spluttered, his cheeks turning a deep red at the absolutely sappy expression on his boyfriend’s face. God he loved this man.

"That's not fair. You can’t call me cute and then look like that." He whined lowly, the fire in his veins burning brighter as Shiro's laugh just kept growing in volume. With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he leaned in to press their lips together, the grin swiftly finding its way back on his face

The soft press of lips and the warm breath on his skin, left him with a calm sort of reassurance. Shiro was alive. In his arms, loved and right where he needed him to be. And there would be hell if anyone tried taking it away from him again. 

Shiro sighed softly into the kiss, wrapping his arm around Keith to bring him flush against him. They stayed that way while listening to the subtle rumble of Black in their minds, reassurance and love washing over them both from her joy of having her paladins back safely. She had been unable to help either of them while Shiro’s essence had been contained within her consciousness, bound to watch Keith tear himself apart, and eventually leave her. His absence was quickly forgiven, however, when he returned with a way to bring back her other favorite paladin. 

Shiro closed his eyes while he listened to the comforting purr of his former lion, a small smile playing on his lips. It quietly slipped from his face as a thought struck him, making him pull away to look at Keith with a faint frown.

"You know..." Shiro spoke up as they were finally untangled their limbs from one another, Keith returning to his previous position of curling up against Shiro's side. He kept silent for another moment, closing his eyes as he listened to their breathing in the silence. The faint sound of their heartbeats.

With a sigh, he shifted slightly on the makeshift bed, looking away from where he had been staring at the walls of the Black Lion above them. He worried his lower lip in thought, glancing back to where Keith was eyeing him with a puzzled expression.

"Matt told me what you tried to do while you were with The Blades." Shiro paused, hesitating for a split second before continuing.  
"When Voltron was trapped on Naxzela and you- You would have.." Shiro trailed off quietly, glancing over Keith's shoulder to avoid meeting his eyes.  
"There’s nothing I could've done, I wouldn’t even have known if Matt hadn’t told me." His voice trembled as he spoke, his arm once again going to bring Keith closer.

"Shiro..." Keith tried, only to be shot down as Shiro looked back at him. A deep hurt flashed across the man’s face, and it was something Keith vowed to never be the cause of again.

"Keith, if anything were to happen to you, I would be helpless to do anything...I'm not even a paladin anymore." Shiro paused, closing his eyes as he moved to lean his forehead against his, taking a shuddering breath.  
"Just, please. Don't ever do anything like that again. I beg you." He sighed, keeping his eyes closed to stay in this quiet moment they had for themselves. 

“I did what I thought was right. One life compared to the importance of Voltron, _billions_ of people, the entire universe...It seemed like a small price to pay” Keith spoke quietly, avoiding the horrified look he knew Shiro was wearing. He hadn’t told anyone about what had happened back then, Matt only knew because he was there, and he had given him a proper scolding and bone crushing hug in the aftermath. 

He had definitely not planned on telling his mom, but the trip on the space whale had absolutely ruined that plan. If she had looked heartbroken when she learned of his dad’s death, it was nothing compared to her reaction of what happened on Naxzela. Knowing that her son had been seconds away from sacrificing himself for the universe, without his friends even being faintly aware...It had been her breaking point. 

It had been seconds away from Krolia never meeting her son again, seconds away from her living in ignorance that he was still alive and well living on earth with his dad. Maybe Kolivan would have eventually told her, but everything considered, he doubted it.

"I won't do it again, I promise." Keith's voice broke through the tension in the air, making Shiro look back at him with a startled expression. It quickly melted away into something softer, looking at Keith with such adoration it made the man yet again turn a flattering shade of red.

"I'm just as scared of losing you, as you are, of losing me, you know." Shiro spoke with a crooked smile, carefully brushing a thumb over the slice carved into Keith's face. A familiar feeling of guilt washed over him at the sight, knowing all too well the origin of it.

"Takashi, it's not your fault." Keith spoke softly, knowing exactly where the man's thoughts had gone. He moved his hand to let his fingers run along the line of Shiro's jaw, cupping his face in his hands to make him look at him properly.  
"It wasn't you, you didn't do any of these things." He continued in a low voice, tilting his head to leave a soft kiss on his jaw.

“We’re here, we’re alive. And that’s all that matters.” Keith smiled, hands slipping into Shiro’s hair to run his fingers through the pale locks.

“How many times have you saved me now?” Shiro chuckled, eyes sliding shut at the calming fingers treading through his hair. Even with his playful tone, Keith didn’t miss the underlying fear in Shiro’s voice. And he could easily hear the words left unsaid.

 _What if I lose control again?_  
_How can you be sure I’m still me?_  
_What if I’m not the man you fell in love with anymore?_

“I told you didn’t I?” Keith snorted, hands slipping from playing with the man’s hair to rest softly above Shiro’s heart. The vibrations from his chest ran through Keith’s body like electricity, his smile turning unbearingly soft as Shiro looked back up at him.

“As many times as it takes.”


End file.
